On Ice
by Beaglicious
Summary: It didn’t surprise him that Hagen wouldn’t think to get her an ice pack. SC friendship with a touch of angst. Missing scene with spoilers for 2x2, Dead Zone.


On Ice

Summary: It didn't surprise him that Hagen wouldn't think to get her an ice pack. SC friendship with a touch of angst. Missing scene with spoilers for 2x2, Dead Zone.

A/N: For the MiamiFicTalk challenge. Prompt #002 - Friends.

Disclaimer: Not mine, just borrowing them.

* * *

_Calleigh: I just can't believe you told Horatio I was hurt by an experiment._

_Hagen: Relax._

_Calleigh: I happen to know that "relax" is cop-speak for "shut up." Look, all I am saying is, please don't tell anybody I am anything less than squared away on a case. All right?_

_2x2, Dead Zone_

* * *

Calleigh Duquesne rapped briskly on the door to the trace lab before stepping inside. She knew that more than likely Tim would have his headphones on and be unable to hear her. Still, she knew how much she hated being surprised by people who didn't knock (like John Hagen), and so she knocked out of professional courtesy, if for no other reason.

As she had suspected, Tim did have his headphones on and was focused intently on a piece of evidence. Calleigh walked over to the opposite side of the table and waved her hand in front of his face. Tim looked up and pulled the headphones off.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Did you manage to get anything off that cross?"

Tim shook his head. "That 'mild' acid solution washed away everything – blood, fingerprints, trace. But it was worth the wasted time just to see the look on that lady's face when we showed her the warrant."

Calleigh grinned, remembering Tim's standoff with Vivian Kensington earlier that day. "At least we know who sold her the cross. Delko's off checking out that lead now."

"Good."

Calleigh paused. She'd come up to trace for something else, she just couldn't remember what. Reflexively, her hand went up to her shoulder, gently rubbing the bruise left by the spear gun.

Tim noticed Calleigh's bewildered expression and asked, "Are you okay?"

Calleigh, assuming the worst, bristled with indignation. "Did Hagen tell you too? I swear, if this had happened to any of _you_, then it wouldn't have ever come up again. But apparently, since I'm female, you all feel like you have to worry about me. I'm _fine_."

Tim held his hands up in mock surrender. "Whoa," he said. "I have _no _idea what you're talking about. I haven't seen Hagen since early this morning." He shook his head and refocused his attention on his work. "Remind me never to ask you again how things are," he mumbled under his breath.

"Tim," Calleigh said, realizing her mistake. Tim laid the evidence down and looked back up at her, an almost annoyed expression on his face.

"I'm sorry," she said, moving around to his side of the table. "It's just that-" she paused. She and Tim weren't particularly close, and she had no desire for her incident with the spear gun to become common knowledge around the lab. But having bit Tim's head off for no reason, she felt as though she should explain herself. After all, she reminded herself, it was Hagen she was angry with, not Tim.

"It's fine, Cal," Tim told her. "It's been a long day for us all."

"I had a run-in with the spear gun this morning," she confessed. She pulled her jacket off her shoulder, revealing the large bruise.

"Ouch," Tim said, his features softening as he took in the bruise. "I'd hate to see what the spear gun looks like."

Calleigh chuckled. "I'm afraid the spear gun won."

Without thinking, Tim reached forward and brushed his fingers lightly across the bruise. Calleigh shivered, surprised at the surge of electricity that rushed through her.

"Does it hurt?" Tim asked, his eyes focused on the bruise, its purple and blue tones standing out in stark contrast to her skin.

"I'll survive," Calleigh said, shrugging it off. Truth be told, it hurt like hell, but she wasn't about to admit that to _anyone_. Besides, she told herself, it wasn't hurting right at _this _moment. Tim's touch was feather-light, and if she weren't seeing it with her own two eyes, she'd be inclined to believe that it wasn't happening.

Tim passed his fingers over the bruise one last time before withdrawing his hand, and Calleigh pulled her jacket back up, her skin feeling surprisingly cold in the absence of his touch.

"Have you put any ice on it?" he asked.

Calleigh shook her head. "I haven't had time."

Tim nodded. "Well - I should get back to this evidence. I would normally spend a few minutes worrying about you, but since you clearly don't want me to do that –"

"Tim," Calleigh said, trying to look insulted. "I told you I was sorry."

He smirked at her. "I know. I'm just giving you a hard time. But maybe I do need to worry about Hagen. You sound like you're pretty angry with him."

Calleigh shrugged. "He was there when it happened, and then he told Horatio about it. I just don't want anyone thinking I'm not capable of doing my job. He knows that now."

"Be gentle with him, Cal," Tim teased. "He doesn't know you like the rest of us do."

Calleigh paused. Apparently, word hadn't made it back to Tim that she and Hagen were seeing each other, and that was one secret she wanted to keep all to herself. "You're not going to say anything to Delko, are you?" she asked.

Tim's eyes widened in mock horror. "And risk your wrath? No way. My lips are sealed."

Calleigh chuckled. "And so it's back to the sarcasm, I see."

Tim shrugged. "I can't have anyone thinking I've got a soft side. You won't tell Delko, will you?" he asked, mimicking her.

Calleigh gave him a playful shove. "You're hopeless," she told him. "Page me if you hear anything about the case, okay?"

"Will do," he told her, slipping his headphones back on. Calleigh turned around and left quickly. The interaction with Tim had left her feeling off-balance. He'd done no more than lightly skim his fingertips over her bruise, and yet, in that one touch, Calleigh had felt more warmth than in all the times that Hagen had touched her combined. She shook her head. It was a ridiculous thought, thinking of Tim in that way, but the thought stayed with her all afternoon.

Later that afternoon, Hagen stopped by the trace lab, not bothering to knock as he stepped through the door. "Calleigh said she left some evidence up here yesterday. Are you finished with it? I'm headed down there, so I thought I'd take it to her."

Tim looked up at him, clearly annoyed. "It's over there," he said, gesturing with his head towards the end of the table.

Hagen walked over to the end of the table. "What's this?" he asked, holding up the ice pack that Tim had run out and bought on his lunch break.

"It's an ice pack," Tim said dryly. "For Calleigh's bruise?"

"But she said it didn't hurt," Hagen argued.

It was all Tim could do not to groan out load. "Think about it, Hagen. There is no way a bruise that size _doesn't _hurt. And clearly, if it's enough of a concern to you to tell Horatio, then odds are that she's feeling a little pain. Trust me, it hurts – no matter what she says."

"She showed it to you?"

_Yes,_ Tim thought. _She showed it to me. And more than that, she didn't flinch when I touched it. Can you say the same, Hagen?_ But there had been a warning tone of jealousy in Hagen's voice, and so Tim backed down. Hagen and Calleigh weren't the only ones with a secret to keep.

"No," he said, shaking his head.

"I don't know," Hagen said after a moment. "I'm not sure that bringing it back up is going to help matters."

"Think of it as a peace offering – like flowers," Tim suggested, irritated that he had to spell it out for Hagen.

"She's pretty mad at me, isn't she?" he asked.

Tim shrugged. "Probably. You know how she is." He locked eyes with Hagen, brazenly challenging him to disagree.

But Hagen didn't know how Calleigh was, and that was clearly the problem. He briefly considered asking Tim for an explanation, but quickly changed his mind. It was clear from the look on Tim's face that if he didn't know how Calleigh was, then he best get busy learning.

"Thanks," he said finally, picking up the analysis of the evidence that Tim had run for Calleigh.

"Good luck," Tim said sarcastically, not bothering to look up. He was all too aware of Calleigh and Hagen's liaison, but if he pretended that he didn't know about it, then he could ignore it. He was tired of watching Calleigh sell herself short when it came to men. It didn't surprise him that Hagen wouldn't think to get her an ice pack.

Tim sighed. His fingertips still tingled from where he'd touched Calleigh's skin earlier. He was no prince charming, but he was pretty sure that he would treat Calleigh better than Hagen did. What had he been thinking, telling Horatio about the bruise? _What an idiot,_ Tim thought. Tim knew that he would probably never tell Calleigh how he felt, but he could at least help Hagen out, who so clearly needed it.

Downstairs, in the ballistics lab, Calleigh smiled graciously as Hagen handed her the ice pack. She laughed at his meek smile and shook her head. "Thank you," she told him. Hagen sighed with relief, clearly pleased to be back in her good graces.

But as Calleigh lifted the ice pack to her bruised shoulder, she knew that only one person would have been considerate enough to get her an ice pack. She would have to remember to thank Tim later. And while the ice's chill brought relief to her sore shoulder, it was Tim's thoughtfulness that warmed her entire body.

The End


End file.
